Autoportrait © Stephan Vanfleteren
ATELIER — Stephan Vanfleteren
13 September - 21 December 2024
Stephan Vanfleteren is one of the most renowned Belgian photographers. To the general public, he is best known for his penetrating black-and-white portraits of both famous and anonymous individuals. However, his work is much more varied than that. Starting his career as a press photographer, Vanfleteren produced captivating photo reports on events dominating the news. Later, he began developing a variety of themes in extensive photo essays, ranging from storefronts to a journey along the mythical Atlantic Wall. Over the past twelve years, Stephan Vanfleteren has worked intensely at home, in a studio lit by daylight.
(BE, 1969) lives and works in Belgium.
The exhibition ATELIER, derived from the book of the same name, is a collection of these works. Whether working with natural light or artificial lighting, Stephan Vanfleteren seeks beauty and meaning. Gray theater curtains are omnipresent in the background. The photographer immortalizes both well-known personalities and anonymous figures. He is interested in the wrinkles on an old fisherman's face and examines Nick Cave's hand with the same attention as a bottle washed ashore. He adores his children, watching them grow, and the old passionate artists. He contemplates the stiffened small body of a kingfisher or the flexible waist of a dancer, following the sunlight as it gently slides over the curtain.
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Stephan Vanfleteren always remains true to his characteristic style and aesthetics: a palette of blacks and whites, the use of marked contrasts, and well-defined details are the trademarks he has developed over the years. His recent color works also demonstrate his sensitivity, skill, and involvement in the subject, whether it is a landscape, a still life, a portrait, or a nude. His expansive personal stories and reflections on encounters are enchanting excursions of a photographer who feels as much a witness as an accomplice. A melancholic soul hides within this sensitive photographer. Stephan Vanfleteren adheres to the tradition of old masters but remains faithful to the style that has always set him apart. His technical expertise and artist's heart make us witnesses and accomplices of the incident light.
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